Originally posted by Mike Blakesley
Photoshop is not good for text handling. The tools are very primitive in older versions of Photoshop. Only a few improvements have been made in the latest CC version. Jaggies are far more noticeable on pixel-based lettering than in photo imagery. I try to keep any lettering in the vector realm if possible. The text tools and text effects in vector-based "draw" applications are superior and not nearly as frustrating to use.
If I do dress up some kind of lettering design within Photoshop the graphics always get designed first in vector format within Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW (with the CDR stuff exported to Illustrator). The vector paths are then pasted into the Photoshop as Smart Objects or AICB-based paths that can be used to generate precise selections. If the lettering needs to retain sharp, high resolution edges then I'll create pixel-based fill imagery in Photoshop and use Illustrator's clipping mask functions to paste the imagery since the vector-based lettering.
Inkscape can do quite a lot for an open source vector-based drawing application. I often recommend that to casual users who want to create their own vector-based graphics without having to spend a bunch of money on professional level software. Affinity Designer is pretty affordable ($49) and has a more visually slick user interface than Inkscape (which looks like a throw-back to the 1990's). Vectornator is free for the iPad and Mac OSX. Autodesk Graphic costs $8.99 for iOS and $24.99 for OSX.
Originally posted by Marcel Birgelen
In my line of work, graphic design within the sign industry, the Windows platform is more dominant than ever. Back in the 1990's to early 2000's some industry specific sign making software was made for the classic MacOS and then OSX. But one by one each vendor making "CAS" software ditched their Mac versions. I was kind of surprised none of the major players in large format printing RIP software made OSX versions of their applications. LED-based "jumbotron" displays are run by specialized hardware controllers that interface with proprietary software. None of the leading companies (Daktronics, Watchfire, etc) make Mac versions of their software -although some apps have been re-developed as web-based solutions that can be operated by a variety of desktop or portable devices.
Originally posted by Scott Norwood
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